Dan Brown wins plagiarism lawsuit

This is a key ruling for fiction writers and for freedom of speech and of the press. Imagine if he had lost, what that would mean in terms of doing historical research for a novel or spinning a scenario based on events that may or may not have happened in the real world. My own novel borrows ideas from literally dozens of nonfiction authors, all of whom I admire and would never want to hurt financially or otherwise. It's what is done with the ideas, I think, that should count, as long as credit is given where due. I am breathing much easier this morning.